Being the amazing, true-to-life adventures and (very likely) misadventures of a writer who seeks to take his education, activism and seemingly boundless energy to North Minneapolis, (NoMi) to help with a process of turning a rapidly revitalizing neighborhood into something approaching Urban Utopia. I am here to be near my child. From 02/08 to 06/15 this blog pushed free speech to the envelope, so others could take heart and speak unafraid. Email me at hoffjohnw@gmail.com

Photo and blog post by John Hoff, writing from a cheap hotel somewhere in Texas. The stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap) DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
Like having an icky squashed camel spider on the sole of your army boot, the evil Anti-Johnny blogger Jim Watkins is a minor but annoying part of my colorful and rather high-profile existence. Most times I just ignore his rantings, ravings and vile spewings as the price of a kind of intensely local fame that I myself am responsible for, after all. Mostly, I disregard his comments (some quite scary) that come to my blog on a frequent basis (more than half of which I don't publish) some of which are definitely from Jim, and some I merely SUSPECT are from Jim.

For those who don't know, Jim's freaky obsession with this blogger started because of my writings about the TJ Waconia fraud which severely impacted North Minneapolis right about the time I arrived on the neighborhood scene. Indeed, The Adventures of Johnny Northside has a kind of creation legend which is intimately entwined with the spectacular downfall of TJ Waconia.

Early in 2008, when I was doing research on buying a piece of property in North Minneapolis, I became fascinated with the TJ Waconia fraud case. I began...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff
I think I have purchased a total of three new tires in my entire life. The truth is I don't even struggle to be frugal; it just comes naturally from the way I was raised. It's not like I have to agonize with myself and think, "Oh, I'd really like some new tires but I guess I will go with some cheap used tires instead." No, my internal agony is along the lines of, "How many more miles can I push out of these tires before safety considerations make me buy more tires? Used, of course."

Honestly, the only time I've bought NEW tires involved having a damaged tire and finding myself pressed for time and near a store that ONLY sold new tires. So, naturally, I've been a fan of Rusty's Tires on West Broadway ever since Nomi super citizen Megan Goodmundson told me about it. It was, however, Jeff Skrenes who did the write up about Rusty's on this blog, click here.

Last Sunday, however, the very day of a long out of town trip, one of my front tires went flat. Thanks to my security cameras, I knew...

Photo, blog post by John Hoff
First and foremost, I feel awful about the workplace shooting incident that happened in this city's Bryn Mawr neighborhood. The fact the media made a ridiculous mistake and initially reported this happened in "North Minneapolis" is a minor matter compared to what happened to the victims; whether dead, injured, or traumatized and their world torn apart. This is the worst murder incident in the history of our city. But this blog is about North Minneapolis, and what's the story here, from where I'm standing? DOZENS of media leaped to report the incident happened in "North Minneapolis." Late last night, while doing my customary Google search for news with the phrase "North Minneapolis," I saw the story of the shooting and approximately 300 news organizations carrying stories about the shooting, all coming up as a hit with that search term, "North Minneapolis."How horrible, I thought. But it was late and I wanted to get some barbacoa tacos at a local all-night Mexican food chain here in Texas, where I find myself at the moment. I figured I'd dig into the story in the morning and look for a unique angle or "loose info just laying around." I didn't even catch the part about "Bryn Mawr," I just kind of took the mainstream media's word from what I saw in the headline last night before tacos and beddy bye time.Today, media seem to be straightening out their spectacular mistake but there are footprints near the broken cookie jar and a trail of crumbs...

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff, blogging from deep in the heart of Texas
According to a source at the Hennepin County prosecutor's office, Michael Danwy Breauxsaus will not be charged in the "bus stop stabbing" near Cub Foods by reason of self-defense. I am not aware of any other media announcing this interesting development, but if anybody finds a Tweet laying on the ground that predates this blog posting, feel free to raise that Tweet high above your head and roar so loud you can be heard, for example, in the Duluth federal pen where reportedly a "prison pizza" concoction is made when inmates take plastic garbage bags and mix up ingredients like saltine crackers, cheese, and salsa in a big glorious goop and call that "pizza."

In any case...

As this blog reported, Breauxsaus had an extensive rap sheet. In addition...

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff, blogging from Gainesville, Texas
Oh, what interesting jailhouse denizens will turn up in this casting of the virtual net? We know for sure there's at least one new alleged murderer, but who ELSE is in there? Only time and the mysterious workings of Googlebots will make this data valuable for those who seek it out in searches, but for the sake of the public record HERE THEY ALL ARE...

Obviously the very near future was a long time away. Slumlord Mahmood Khan kept matters tied up in court but finally lost his battle. Councilman Gary Schiff was the one who "broke the story" by posting info on the North Talk Facebook page even though the house is located in Council Member Hofstede's ward.

Contributed photo, 2519 3rd St. N, blog post by John Hoff
Mohamad Amro, who earned lasting fame on this blog as "Mr. Slummy" and inadvertently helped to launch the independent blogging career of the Hawthorne Hawkman, hasn't been written about for a while. In order to create a decent one-post interval between Part Thirty-Six and Thirty-Seven of the Madness of Jill Clark, it's about time for an update about the slow, painful collapse of what once promised to be a sprawling empire of slum...

Monday, September 24, 2012

A civilian employee at FOB Gardez finds the remains of a plant that might be a fig tree and attempts transplant into an ammo box, blog post by John Hoff
Michael Danwy Breauxsaus has been identified by mainstream media as the jailed murder suspect in the killing of Evander Partee or Lazar Partee.

Most local media sources say the victim was named "Evander," click here, but KSTP says "Lazar," click here. Still other media say "Evander Lazar Partee" which sounds about right. So far, I have not found any criminal record for Evander Partee, but the suspect has quite an extensive record, as follows...

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The popular eatery and watering hole at 4601 Lyndale Ave. N., which used to be called Rachael's 46 and Waldo's Bar and Grill, is open again. Reportedly, the previous owner was getting old and didn't want to continue running Rachael's 46, but new owners snapped up the popular and established bar. The name of the bar was the result of a contest with over a hundred entries, as documented on YouTube.

The food is basic but good and affordable. Meat raffles take place twice a week; Thursday and Saturday at 5 PM. When I visited, it was relatively crowded so it seemed like a lot of the old Rachael's 46 crowd had found their way back after the relatively brief hiatus. The inside was clean and new, but had nice character. Most important in a Northside bar, the place felt safe and orderly. If you're up that way, it's well worth checking out and might even become a new favorite.

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff
I have word from a reliable source there was a homicide in North Minneapolis tonight. The victim is believed to be a 44-year-old male, race unknown, who was stabbed. The stabbing took place on 18th Ave. N. but I do not have the cross street. That is all I know at this time.

(Correction, September 23: A previous version of this blog post stated this blog had the information before any other media source. It appears this blog did beat one major television station, but did not have the information before some other media players; some of which TWEETED it like any common citizen with access to social media)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Creative stock photo taken in Washington, DC this summer, blog post by John Hoff
There are hundreds, thousands of actual and alleged criminals with some connection to North Minneapolis that I could write about. But there's just something about Wesley Gubbin that sticks in my craw...something about the way Gubbin seemed to make certain ASSUMPTIONS about our North Minneapolis neighborhood when he dumped his hit-and-run vehicle in this neighborhood after running down an elderly man on a bicycle.

According to the allegations in the complaint (and keeping in mind Gubbin did plead guilty) Gubbin was residing at 1508 Madison St. NE on or about November 12, 2011. On that day, Minneapolis police were dispatched to West River Parkway, just south of the Franklin Avenue Bridge on a report of a vehicle hitting a pedestrian....

Stock photo, blog post by John Willard Hoff
The controversial police conduct overhaul which this blog reported on in Parts 1 and 2 of Crazies On Parade (Click here and also here) passed the city council today by a vote of 8 to 5. Council Member Cam Gordon proposed three amendments, two of which passed. Colorful details to follow in a subsequent blog post.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, blog post by John HoffT
Northside residents who lived nearby just started calling it "the crap hole," and for the longest time they only wanted it gone, gone, gone. Confusingly--but perhaps in keeping with the sprawling, craptastic nature of the structure--it had three different addresses, and they weren't all on the same street. It was 1900 and 1904 Lowry Ave. N. But, officially, it was 3203 Logan Ave. N.

Too late. Even passing public mention of the building seemed to roil dark and mysterious waters, beneath which slept a beast. The name of this beast was Thomas Amadeus David, the son of the elderly owner. Once upon a time David had been well known. In fact, he had been infamous. In the early 1990s, David tried to start a "White Student Union" at the University of Minnesota. Controversy over the issue literally caused a riot. Notably, I can find no single online resource telling the story from beginning to end, in coherent fashion; but bits and pieces of the story can be found in PDFs of the Minnesota Daily, click here for an example. Here is another snippet which tells the tale in abbreviated form, click here.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

As of today, the 55411 zip code has 28 Level Three sex offenders. This is an insufferable and concentrated number of sex offenders which is getting in the way of the revitalization of our neighborhood.

The Department of Corrections website does an almost adequate bureaucratic job of listing information and photos about these offenders, as well as the names of their supervising agents (for the ones still supervised) but these supervising agents are, in the experience of myself and other residents, incredibly unresponsive.

For example, recently I asked a supervising agent when was the nightly curfew of a particular Level Three Sex Offender. He never got back to me.

And, of course, there's not a place on the DOC website where citizens can add commentary and questions. Leave THAT to this blog. Though my "collect them all" sex offender blog posts aren't the hottest item on this blog, I believe making the historical record is important. I'm also happy to provide a forum where anybody searching a name in Google can add their commentary months, years, DECADES after my original blog post.

Stock photo, (parking lot of Merwin Liquors, taken through a dirty windshield) blog post by John Hoff

The day after tomorrow, Friday at 9:30 AM, the full Minneapolis City Council will be considering a controversial proposal to revamp the police conduct oversight process. Though I just used the word "controversial" to describe the proposal, the fact is "controversy" mostly exists among a certain faction of rabid anti-police crazies (The Dave Bicking faction) and the majority of solid, average citizens would find the revamp a pretty good idea if they cared much about the details. I mean, the revamp was proposed by the city's CIVIL RIGHTS DEPARTMENT.

HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!

A revamp of some kind is inevitable because of changes in state law which have left our current Minneapolis system non-conforming. Unfortunately, the only folks who seem to care deeply about this process are the same strident "multi-purpose protestors" who show up at various proceedings and try to tip proposals toward their radical (albeit mostly incomprehensible) social agenda. Their foul-mouthed, rabid, unreasonable, cop-hating voices have mostly dominated this process. So Friday's proceeding at 9:30 AM in council chambers promises to be a loud spectacle, even though the debate will be among council members and the "open hearing" aspect of this process is thankfully finished, the final words spoken by the crazies being "fuck you" and "see you at the riot."

I would probably urge normal, decent citizens to turn out for the hearing but who can tell if they'd even be SAFE with the likes of the crazies who will be gathered all in one place, working themselves into a heated lather and completely frustrated by their inability to get access to the microphone. I'm not even sure I want to be there MYSELF.

All the same, because I'm getting reader feedback telling me to announce the time and place of this important hearing, I am publishing this information.

I do not yet have a copy of Bicking's recent appeal (which would reveal his basis for appealling, which I'd love to know since I'm sure it's a real creative stretch) or a copy of any responsive filings by Bellfield. As I get those things I will make them available.

The order linked above contains such fascinating gems as what I would describe as a radical "unwashed proletarian masses" definition of what it means to be the "prevailing party" in a lawsuit, which is just FASCINATING because it appears to be sort of like the very OPPOSITE of the LEGAL definition.

Sigh. What will we ever do without loony attorney Jill Clark to provide us this kind of entertainment? Well, I'm sure we'll find SOMETHING, like barbeque in our backyards in peace instead of worrying about the next baseless lawsuit.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Department of Corrections Mug Shot, therefore public domain, put it on POT HOLDERS if you like you own it as much as I do, blog post by John Hoff

While the statutory definition of "concentration" continues to be undefined vis-a-vis Level Three sex offenders, and while the DOC continues to approve the continued piling of sex offenders in our neighborhood despite the screams and protests of residents, this blog will do what it can by saying WELCOME!!!

Welcome new Level Three sex offender to North Minneapolis and here's your basket of gifts, starting with a public airing of your loathsome criminal record and (wait, there's MORE!) putting your mug shot on the internet so even if it drops off the DOC website, it will be around HERE in Johnny Town forever...

Writing on his Facebook profile and asking for the information to be disseminated, State Rep Joe Mullery announced what appears to be a victory in the complex controversy surrounding Northern Metals and their request to increase their emissions. The issue has been covered extensively by Jeff Skrenes (writing as in his role as Hawthorne Neighborhood Housing Director) on the Hawthorne Voices blog, click here

Mullery's sudden announcement makes it appear a victory has just happened and the controversy may be at an end, though that would be a lot to hope for...

As I blogged some days ago, word reaches me of an appeal being filed in the lawsuit filed by Dave Bicking and Michelle Gross against former CRA Chair Donald Bellfield, click here for previous coverage. The original lawsuit concerned alleged "defamation" against anti-police crazy Dave Bicking and his equally loony friend Michelle Gross, and that lawsuit stood about as much chance of succeeding as these ducks, pictured above, have of flying south this winter.

Naturally, the lawsuit was filed by Jill Clark, who is now facing disciplinary proceedings. But this appeal is being handled pro se. Here is a link to a document about the filing of the appeal, click here. Interestingly, on MNCIS it's noted the filing fee was paid by "Communities United Against Police." I'm sure that's a truncated version of "Communities United Against Police Brutality, Minneapolis," but all the same it does provide a kind of "accidental editorial comment" by the MNCIS system.

And here I thought MNCIS was clunky, cryptic and frustrating. Who knew MNCIS had a sense of humor? My eyes have been opened.

I do not have information about what the Bicking appeal concerns but if I had to take a guess, it's probably about expenses and lawyer fees to be paid to the prevailing side. I will make more documents available in this matter if and when I receive them.

As I promised or darkly threatened when writing Crazies On Parade Part One, I did manage to write parody lyrics for "Bulls On Parade" as a musical commentary on what happened at the most recent meeting of the Public Safety Committee. Half a dozen of "the usual loons" spoke against a proposal to revamp the oversight process for alleged police misconduct. I alone spoke in favor of the proposal.

The proposal passed 3 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstaining.

Like dessert at the end of lunch, you'll find those parody lyrics served up at the end of this blog post. Here is an account of the rest of the hearing, starting with my turn at the microphone after a number of "crazies" spoke, and maybe two fairly reasonable and articulate people...

Too early in the morning a buddy called my phone and told me I needed to attend a hearing of the Minneapolis Public Safety Committee at 1:30 which promised to be a lurid spectacle. The Civilian Review Authority which "polices the police" is being overhauled; a hearing on the overhaul promised to attract every rabid, chomping, foaming-at-the-mouth cop hater in the city and, actually, plenty of the crazies wouldn't be from Minneapolis at all but would attend anyway, eager to spew into a hot microphone and bash our brave police with stories lacking veracity and key documentary details needed for the most rudimentary fact-checking.

Somebody needed to balance out the other side and fate had chosen me because my phone was fully charged and I recognized the number calling, so I picked up. Somewhere in the midst of this request to attend the hearing was a crazy story about....

Residents suspect drugs are SOLD from 4610 and PURCHASED at 4635. How residents can make such fine-tuned distinctions is the first question I asked myself, but then I quickly realized the answer. Whatever they're seeing, they're seeing A LOT of it...

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

This week's Jacked-up Property of the Week is actually a duo occupying the intersection of Penn and Golden Valley Road. The addresses are 1911 and 1915 Penn Ave N. Both have been boarded since I can remember with no signs of life being breathed back into either (not that that has stopped the phone book deliveries).

Why properties in this condition are allowed to exist for years on end on the intersection of two main thouroughfares is beyond me. I hear the intersection is on the docket for redevelopment and the process takes time; BUT, tear down this garbage for crying out loud! The only thing more unpleasant than these two structures would be to put up a billboard that reads "WE HAVE BLIGHT!"

Monday, September 10, 2012

Stock photo, taken about a month ago in the parking lot of Merwyn Liquors, blog post by John Hoff

Maurice Anthony Richard, DOB 12/30/66, was recently arrested on a warrant from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office for four drug warrants, all for marijuana. According to his address listed on the jail roster, Richard lives at 3620 Penn Ave. N., a rental owned by Nicole Brown of 12491 Unity St. NW in Coon Rapids. He is free on $75,000 bail.

Stock photo taken from my back yard a couple days ago, blog post by John Hoff

Looking through the jail roster, far too often I will see things that make me think "Something is very wrong with our justice system." Saturday (day before yesterday) was one of those days. King Jorrel Peterson, DOB 10/03/86, faces ELEVEN possible charges.

I can't remember the last time I saw that many individual charges listed on the roster. Not on MNCIS, mind you, (I see that many charges or more all the time on MNCIS) but on the jailhouse roster. Despite facing so many charges, this guy was released on NO BAIL...

Contemplate, if you would, the words to this country song by Miranda Lambert.

County road 233, under my feet
Nothin' on this white rock but little ole me
I've got two miles 'til, he makes bail
And if I'm right we're headed straight for hell

Chorus:

I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun
Wait by the door and light a cigarette
If he wants a fight well now he's got one
And he ain't seen me crazy yet
He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll
Don't that sound like a real man
I'm going to show him what a little girls are made of
Gunpowder and lead

It's half past ten, another six pack in
And I can feel the rumble like a cold black wind
He pulls in the drive, the gravel flies
He don't know what's waiting here this time

(Repeat Chorus)

His fist is big but my gun's bigger
He'll find out when I pull the trigger

Looking at the jail roster, I can see a little story like that, only it didn't turn out nearly so well for the victim involved. The "turnaround time" from one (alleged) domestic incident to (what might be) another was just as quick, however...

Driving by 2131 Lyndale Ave. N., the scummy jewel in slumlord Bashir Moghul's empire of crap, residents of North Minneapolis often make remarks with sounds instead of words.

Ugh.

Ewwwww.

Arrrrrrr.

Rough looking characters are always congregating on the porch and the sidewalk outside. The address comes up frequently on the jail roster. It came up a couple days ago with the arrest of Airean Dupre Johnson, DOB 8/28/93, for "probable cause" on suspicion of burglary. According to the jail roster, this guy's address is 2131 Lyndale Ave. N.

Johnson has one conviction already for theft and is on probation until July of 2013.

Smithrud, who early in his political career resembled a garden gnome, has been slowly but surely evolving as a candidate by, for example, trying to look more like a wise professor than lawn art.

Unfortunately, Smithrud has far to go as a viable candidate for, well, anything.

People close to this blogger say stuff like, "John, why are you picking on sweet little Roger Smithrud?" but then, hiding smiles behind their hands, these same folks forward a copy of Smithrud's political literature in PDF form knowing very well it will offend this grammar Nazi all the way down to the soles of my jackboots. (OH MY GOD!!! Apostrophes on plurals? OVER AND OVER?! Where did Smithrud learn to write, in PRISON?)

I have to HELP this sweet little garden gnome. Yes, he's going to make shrill gnome screaming sounds and cry out that I'm chipping his paint, but THIS HAS TO HAPPEN. Through a painful process of public criticism verging on outright mockery and soul-scarring one-liners, this blog is going to help Smithrud grow as a person and as a candidate so one bright, glorious day, Smithrud can place second in a four man race or even third in a seven man race...

According to information on the Hennepin County Jail roster, Jeffrey Latawiec, DOB 12/09/82, was picked up on felony warrants for allegedly promoting prostitution of a person under 18, and receiving profit from prostitution of a person under 18. Bail is set at $75,000 and Latawiec remains in custody.

Latawiec's home address on the jail roster is 1619 22nd Ave. N., a homesteaded property owned by a relative with the same surname.

Creative stock photo, (a craft being sold in Afghanistan reportedly made by a widow to support herself) blog post by John Hoff

It's rare to see somebody charged with "disorderly house" in Minneapolis. I can't remember the last time I saw it on the jail roster, and I check that roster all the time. But I guess it happens, sometimes. It happened to Helen Diana Gurley, DOB 10/23/62, who reportedly lives at 704 Penn Ave. (North) and who is listed on the jailhouse roster as being picked up on a bench warrant for "disorderly house."

Deangelo Dvontay Gilmer, DOB 1/22/90, was picked up for (alleged) failure to register as a predatory offender. He was released but his information--including his reported address at 3350 Dupont Ave. N.--was caught in my net like an interesting bug.

Creative stock photo, Maryland crabs with Old Bay seasoning in a paper bag, blog post by John Hoff

Which Northside residents are in jail and what charges are they facing? Let's jump right in, shall we?

Robert Lee Burns, DOB 11/21/78, whose address (according to the roster) is 2625 Oliver Ave. N., has been released from custody but is listed as "formally charged" with controlled substance, narcotics. The place he reportedly lives is a rental owned by Blackwood Investments, Inc., an entity associated with James Swartwood (sic) President, whose address is a PO Box.

PRESIDENT, is he? Who is the "secretary of state" for this little operation?

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Paul Koenig, from Facebook, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism with extra cheese, blog post by John Hoff

Today, while on the federal courts PACER system to see if attorney Jill Clark was having her recent crazy filings accepted by any court worthy to call itself such, I thought, hey, what's up with Paul Koenig the one man housing crisis? He's in hot water in his bankruptcy proceeding; is there anything new with that on the PACER system?

Contributed photo, Farmpeddlar1, blog post by John Hoff Farmpeddlar1 forwarded some photos of the demolition at a building he identified as 2110 West Broadway right about the same moment I swung by and took some of my own photos of the demolition, because Northside demolition attracts me like a moth to flame. (ADDENDUM, the building has now been positively identified as 2101 West Broadway, not 2110 as was previously reported to me. This blog post is being quickly corrected. THANK YOU READERS for the help)

Farmpeddlar identifies the building as "Snow Foods" but a friend of mine said it was "Broadway Rentals." The large, sprawling commercial building with multiple sections visible is clearly big enough and ancient enough to have a complex history and to be the location of numerous former businesses, collective memory of those things now more permanent than the building itself...

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Image from a Youtube video about Khan, which itself is using a STrib photo, blog post by John Hoff From an anonymous poster to this blog, I received word of (what seemed at first) a somewhat alarming development in the city's government's push against slumlord Mahmoud Khan and his numerous messed up properties. A few days ago, the City Attorney had recommended some kind of SETTLEMENT with Khan the slumlord. The item appeared in an agenda from August 28, as follows...

JNS blog notes: The photos depicted in a previous version of this blog post were not loading in some browsers, a technical matter caused by a non-standard way I loaded the photos into the blog post by copying and pasting an entire email. So I have reproduced the blog post, (with no stock photo at the top, just one of the contributed photos) and I will be putting the comments at the end. Thanks to readers for alerting me to this technical issue and take a good look at the pictures of this jacked up Proton Investments, Inc. property, I worked hard to bring them to you.

A trend of public outcry against jacked up buildings appears to be taking place lately in North Minneapolis, with participants in the North Talk Facebook page publishing photos of property gripes as small as, for example, an old tire being used as a barrier around a rose bush. Increasingly less afraid of threats or retaliation, residents are making these complaints openly and in their own names.

This is a very notable trend that bodes well for the continuing turnaround of North Minneapolis, long though the struggle may be ahead of us. Recently, one resident went so far as to forward her complaints to this blog as a kind of "more effective recourse" than 311.